General

Lawyer wants Cheney arrested upon entering Canada

Argues Canada is obliged to arrest former U.S. vice-president for war crimes

A Vancouver lawyer wants former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney to be arrested and prosecuted for war crimes when he visits the city later this month to promote his new memoir, In My Time. Gail Davidson, the co-founder of an organization called Lawyers Against the War, wants Canada to either bar Cheney’s entry into the country or prosecute him for war crimes. “It’s a bit chilling that they would invite a mass murderer as their guest to Canada,” Davidson said to Vancouver’s Georgia Straight, criticizing the Bon Mot Book Club that will host Cheney. Davidson is writing letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and several prominent cabinet ministers, urging them to bar Cheney from entering the country, or charging him with crimes under international law. Cheney, along with former U.S. President George W. Bush, oversaw the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and reportedly authorized the torture of suspected terrorists. According to Davidson, Canada is obliged as a signatory of UN covenants against the use of torture to arrest and prosecute both men when they enter the country.

Georgia Straight

 

 

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